Craig, Es press ions of Enioiioti /;; Pigeons. 



51 



tone, breaks into a liig-licr, more shrill sonnd. In some cases only 

 part of the notes break into the hig-lier pitch. In other cases, the 

 whole strain is in a high, shrill voice, as in the following example. 



N0.21 



cook coorr koo qo 



Time : G crotchets per second. 

 Timbre : Falsetto. 



The female characteristically does not give the bowing-coo. When 

 an adult female has been kept long in isolation, and has in conse- 

 quence acquired almost identically the masculine bearing and behavior 

 (p. 16), then she gives the bowing-coo like a male. But under any 

 other circumstances, the bowing-coo is heard from her very, very 

 rarely, and when heard it is of a comparativeh^ feeble and perfunc- 

 tory type. 



(Ill) The nest-caJJ. The nest-call, as the name implies, is a coo 

 which is given typically in the nest, by either male or female, and 

 serves to call the mate to the nest. Before the nest has been built, 

 when the pair are hunting a nesting-site, the nest-call is used by either 

 bird which has found a likely site, to call the other bird to the sj^ot. 

 On some other occasions, this call may be given by a bird which is 

 not in the nest. But in all cases the calling bird places itself in a 

 corner of the cage, or in the corner formed where a perch joins the 

 side of the cage, or in some such partly inclosed space ; one male that 

 Professor Whitman made very tame would crouch in the hollow hands 

 of his master and nest-call lustily ; it is evident that such hollow 

 places have, for the ring-dove, somewhat the same suggestive power 

 as a. nest. 



The nest-call is characterized by a distinct attitude (Plate I, 

 Fig. 4), which the bird invariably assumes in giving this sound. The 

 body is tilted forward until in many instances the tail points almost 

 vertically upward, and the head is as low as the feet, or lower; if 

 the bird is standing on the floor, the tip of the bill and also the 

 swelling crop touch the floor ; if on a perch, the head may be held so 



